Oktoberfest

On Friday, I went to Oktoberfest with three friends, and it was maybe the best decision I've made since I got here. I had a blast!

First of all, since tents are hard to get into, getting to one early is important, and because we live in Heidelberg, about a 3 hour train ride away, we needed to take an early train. We decided to leave on a train at 4:40am, which would get us into Munich at about 8:15. Our program gave us German Rail Passes, which allow us to have five free days of travel on any trains within Germany. Aaron and I decided to come back the same day in order to use just one day, but Brian and Dan left from Munich to go on the rest of their Fall Break plans. Since we were leaving so early, and Brian and I live on the opposite side of town, we spent the night at Dan's, which is super close to the Hbf (Hauptbahnhof, the central railway station). Brian and I both slept on the floor, which was not comfortable, per se, but it was better than waking up earlier and walking 45 minutes to get to the station!

We got to the station in time to try to get our passes validated, but since it was so early, no one was there to help us. We stood around for a while, and ended up seeing 5 other AJY students who were heading to Munich for Oktoberfest, which was nice. We hopped on our (surprisingly late) regional train that took us to Bruchsal, where we transferred onto a train to Munich (due to the other train being late, we got off the regional train and had literally a minute or two to get to the other side of the track. We all got off, ran down the stairs, across the tunnel, up the stairs and bolted into a car). We lost the other AJY students at Bruchsal, because us four had reserved seats together (best €4.50 I've ever spent. or as Brian and Dan said, the best €4.50 I ever spent for them...they haven't paid me back yet) in the Großraum mit Tisch (in the big room with a table). We all slept most of the way, which ended up being longer than it was supposed to be, because the train was delayed.

When we got to Munich, we validated our German Rail Passes, and then stowed our packs in the locker area of the station. All I brought with me was monaay and my phone (I forgot my camera, unfortunately). We then set off to find Oktoberfest...but got lost. We didn't know where we were going and after a while, used Brian's phone's googlemaps ability (and a phone call to Marcus who had been there before) and eventually found it! Finding it was a lot more anticlimactic than we thought it'd be. It was pretty empty, which, for a kinda overcast and rainy Friday morning (10 am), isn't all that surprising. We went almost directly to a tent, telling ourselves there would be plenty of time to ride the rides or see the rest of what there was to see later. We ended up going into the Paulaner München tent, Dan got carded (the drinking age for beer in Germany is 15...) which was just a wonderful way to begin the day (Dan didn't really think so). We found an empty box, sat down and each ordered a Maß (a liter) of the Oktoberfest, and just enjoyed looking around and talking. By the end of the Mass, I was a little farther gone than I realized when I ordered another, and instead of receiving another Oktoberfest, got a Radler, a beer and lemonade mix (which actually tastes good, but it just wasn't what I thought I ordered). I have no memory of asking for a Radler, but after being told by Dan, Brian and Aaron (also after having received the Radler) I have to conclude that I really did order it.

The funny thing about Oktoberfest is how quickly time passes before you really know it. Eric, our graduate student assistant at AJY, told Dan and me on Thursday night when we ran into him, that you get to Oktoberfest, and you sit down, take a glance at your watch and ask yourself what in the world you'll do all day, and how you'll ever be able to spend 7 hours in a tent, and then you'll look down and realize 5 or 6 hours have gone by and you didn't even realize it. That's exactly what happened! We just sat, drank, talked, ate (the guys all had Weißwurst (white sausage), but I had Kartoffelsuppe (potato soup), which was delicious), sang (ein Prosit, ein Prosit, der Gemütlichkeit, ein Prosit, ein Prosit, der Gemütlichkeit!), made friends (a group of Spaniards sat down next to us, and were kind enough to order Brian a beer at one point, and me one at another) and then all of a sudden it was time to go because Brian and Dan's train was going to be coming soon.

We bought two Paulaner Krugs (what we in the US incorrectly call "steins"), and headed back to the station. It took us a little while, we were all a little shaky (some more than others) but we made it to the station after an hour or so (and a prolonged stop at a McDonalds outdoor seating area in order to let everyone catch their breath and regain their bearings). Dan and Brian headed off to Salzburg while Aaron and I waited for our train. I felt completely normal after a little while, and Aaron was feeling better by the time our train came. It was an ICE (an inter-city express) which was awesome! I loved it! I never want to travel on anything but ICE's. It was nice, and roomy, and fast, and quiet. I slept the entire time, and it was wonderful.

We got to Mannheim and grabbed a regional train to Heidelberg. Once we got back to the Hauptbahnhof, I caught a S-bahn back to Bismarkplatz, and walked home. It felt good to be home after such a long day- I really appreciated my bed!

The whole day was filled with laughter and fun and I had a wonderful time. At first, I wasn't that excited about going. I thought I'd go because it was the 200th anniversary, and I was in Germany, and wouldn't it be cool to be able to say I went? Yes, that's really cool, but at the same time, I also got to be a part of a piece of German tradition in a way that a lot of people can't say they have. It was a cultural experience that can't be duplicated, and a fun time. Totally worth it.